Publix-customer service rant....

Publix, Publix, Publix....I grew up with you when you were a 150 store chain, when old man Jenkins was still around, when sweat and hard work and doing customer service better than any other store out there was the driving mandate.

Today I chose (please remember this important part, we "choose" to shop here) to go to Publix on the wey in to work. I wanted to get some postage stamps which they sell at customer service desk and I wanted to pickup some more coffee and a danish for the office. I walked in the door at 7:50am. I know the store does not "open" till 8am, but this is Sebring and the retirement capitol of the world so they usually open around 7:15-7:30 to let the old folks in since they all wake up at 5am for some reason. So I stroll thru, grab the danish, grab the coffee and head up front. The one lane that is open has 5 people in line for it. I head for the customer service desk since they have the stamps and they can check you out at the same time. There is one lady in line getting a Western Union money transfer, a mother and young child behind her, and then me. There are also 8 Publix employees standing there waiting for the electronic time clock to hit 8am so they can punch in. Back in the day when I worked at Publix the time clock was not in public view AND if there were 8 of us standing there AND there were customers backed up on the registers, the manager or customer service cashier would tell us to punch in and get out there and help the customers. But today instead of telling the 3 cashiers and 5 bagboy-stockboys to clock in, the cashier kept fussing with the money transfer. Then the lady in front of me asked "Can you open another line?" the cashier replied "They will be out in a minute". The lady in front of me then jumped over to the express lane and waited for the cashier to punch in 3 minutes later and then grab her cash drawer and head over to open the lane. As soon as the lady left the customer service cashier rolled her eyes and said loud enough for me to hear "We are not even OPEN until 8AM". I about fell over at this point. At this point she finished the money transfer and then rang me up and I left. My problem with this WHOLE situation is, your manager CHOSE to open early, and they do this on a regular basis. I CHOSE to come to your store, and spend my money there, but if I am going to see that we are a burden to you because we expect Publix level service when the doors are open, then I will take my money and go look for another store to see if they want to welcome me to their store.

Easy pork tenderloin

It is hard to screw up pork tenderloin, but here is an easy recipe that some of you might recognize parts of.

Take your pork and rinse and pat dry. Take plain yellow mustard and rub the tenderloin all over with a generous amount. Take equal parts of McCormicks Pork Rub or similar seasoning and mix it with brown sugar. Coat the entire pork with the rub-sugar mix and place it in a baking dish. Throw it in a 375 oven for about 30-40 minutes or until it reaches 165 degree's inside temp. You can baste it a couple times. When it is done cooking, pull it from the oven and put it on a plate and let it rest. Take all the juice from the baking dish and scrape any good scrapings off the bottom of the pan. Put it all in a sauce pan and bring to simmer and splash in some good red wine, let it simmer the alcohol off for 5-10 minutes and thicken up a little. Slice the pork, drizzle a little sauce and enjoy!

Christmas Song List

Songs from the best Christmas song list. If you disagree you are a Grinch!

The christmas song
Little Drummer Boy
All I want for Christmas is You
Happy Christmas
Its the most wonderful time of the year
Blue Christmas
Do you hear what I hear
Let it snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Santa's beard
Silver bells
Sleigh Ride
White Christmas
Rock around the christmas tree
In Elxelcius Deo
Auld Lang Syne
Holly jolly Christmas
Santa Baby
Grandma got runover by a reindeer
Make it feel like christmas
Jinglebell rock
Saint Nick
Mr Grinch

Pancakes and Christmas Music....

Went on a ride to DeLeon Springs State Park and had breakfast at the Old Sawmill Grill. The CFLRiders motorcycle group had about 10-12 people ride from the southside of O-town up to Deland vie the scenic route. I left Sebring at 6:30 am and got to the Panera meeting place at 8:15 without any problems except for seeing a mega roadkill on the side of the road. The carcass was a LARGE wild boar that was about 5 feet long and probably would tip the scales at 250-300 pounds. Luckily someone else had the honor of hitting him, but he was still laying on the side of Hwy27 and everytime I see one I am glad it was not me that was cosmically chosen to be the one to send the boar on to the great pig pen in the sky. That would hurt on a motorcycle.

After meeting up and rolling out, we had a nice ride thru Winter Garden, Oakland, Mt. Dora, and the western rural side of Orlando. We also rode around Sugarloaf mountain(?) which is the "butt kicker" on the Hilly Hundred Bicycle wide in the Clermont. We saw probably 20-30 bicyclist out in groups this morning. It is kind of funny because a lot of cyclist in Central Florida say that Sugarloaf is a monster, but when you look at any of the hills or mountains in GA or the Carolina's, Sugarloaf is a warmup ant hill. I guess it is what you are used to.

We rolled into the state park after about 90 miles and settled in to our tables after a 10 minute wait. Each table seats 6-8 people and they have two griddles built into the center of the tables. They bring out pitchers of batter and spatula's and you are in charge of cooking up your own pancakes. They have wheat and white batter and then little dishes of chocolate chips, blueberry's, pecans and other toppings. The building this is housed in is an original saw mill they preserved and turned into a restaraunt and there are only 8-10 tables total in a small area, but it is rustic and "antique" and a pretty cool atmosphere. The pancakes were good, but since I am a Iron Chef when it comes to pancakes, I think their batter was a little too heavy, it could have used a little more baking soda and powder which would make more bubbles and a lighter fluffer pancake when cooked. But the taste was good and I put away 4 or 5 or maybe 7 pancakes by the time we threw in the towel and called it quits.

After rolling out and taking a short walk and shooting the gossip bull for a little while I saddled up and rolled south. Stopped in to see a friend in Orlando for a while and then got back to Sebring around 7pm. Even after the stack o' flap jacks I destroyed, by the time I got back in town I was starting to get a little peckish so I stopped in to the CaddyShack for a snack and they had the full Christmas decor going with lights, tree, wreaths and Christmas music going. So After grubbing up I came home and pulled out the IPod and cranked up my good friend Christine's Christmas Music Compilation, ran the A/C down to 71 degrees to make it feel a little cool and Christmasy. So after 23 of the best Christmas tune's I am officially in the holiday mood. Although a little shot of snow would really help. So thanks to Christine for the Christmas tune's and the cheer, thanks to the sawmill for good food and a good time with friends, and thanks the big man above for a beautiful day and a great ride.

Dream Job?

What would your dream job be? I am not talking about the easy one's like guarding Fort Knox and having the keys, or being Kato Kaylin. I am talking about the dream jobs that are really jobs. I liked the style of the list's Rob Gordon (John Cusack) did in "High Fidelity", so here goes.

1. Jaime on the show Mythbuster's TV show on Discovery channel from 2005-2007. He gets paid to debunk or prove true a vast array of myths and rumors. And sure they have noble intentions that they try to potray to the audience, but it really is about doing all the things that you dreamed about as a kid, but did not have the guts or the means to perpatrate. Blowing up cement trucks, driving fast cars trying to outrun photo radar, having sword battles, shooting frozen chickens at airplanes. AND getting paid for it.
2. Dennis Conner America's Cup Sailing captain from 1980 thru 1987. From the high of defending the America's cup in 1980 to being the first US captain to loose it in 1983 to the Aussie's to winning it back in 1987 against the Aussie's, Dennis was part of a rollercoaster drama that was a huge story to to me when I was in highschool and we had a Hobie Cat sailboat and spent a lot of weekends on the water.
3. Dick Francis mystery writer. Starting off as a jockey in England to being a great storyteller and prolific mystery writer, his life has to have been a fascinating journey. A horse is a fascinating animal to begin with, and to spend your life riding, loving , appreciating, and writing about them is a true gift.
4. Zach Braff 2003-2004. Writer, director, star of "Garden State". It may not be "Gone With the Wind" but it is a good movie and he was the driving force behind it. To be able to write the script, put yourself in the lead roll and then be able to cast Natalie Portman as the female lead and write in extra smooching scene's and then be able to reshoot the smooching scene's because you are the director has to be pretty cool. And it was a really good movie.
5. Sacha White - Vanilla Cycles. Maker of custom bicycles in Seattle, WA. I am fascinated by someone who is a perfectionist with their craft and to be able to start with tubing, lugs, and a welder and be able to turn out some of the most beatiful, graceful, gorgeous looking bicycles is a talent.

The one thing that all these people have in common is a passion for what they do. They may not be saving the world, or curing cancer, but they have a something that they love to do and share with the world around them and as an added bonus it puts bread on the table and booze in the blender. What is your passion and are you sharing it with the world around you?

Three-fer Thanksgiving

MMMMMM Thanksgiving. Gravy and stuffing and rolls and turkey. Yes, I have that in the correct order. And if you disagree you need to show up next year and taste test my throwdown and tell me what you think. Rode to the parents on the Silver Sled after staying with Clark and Suzy at the Albany Bed and Breakfast. Got in late Wednesday and Thursday AM got up early to make a quick trip to Walmart for a couple last minute ingredients for the stuffing. The chopping and cooking started at 7am sharp, Johnsonville sausage, bacon chunks, garlic, onions, carrots, celery, apples, and a heap of stale french bread and 7 grain bread chunks. Mix it all up in a bowl with some turkey stock from boiling the innards, a little heavy cream and some chicken stock from concentrate. wrapped up a pile of the stuffing and put it in some cheesecloth and gave it a 5 minute microwave kickstart and then stuffed it in the bird, put half of the rest in a backing dish and the last lot of it scooped out into a muffin tin. Three types of cooked stuffing, check! Rubbed the bird down with olive oil and butter then salt and pepper. Threw it in at 475 to brown off the outside quick and then cranked it down to 350 for the duration. Mom had brined the bird the day before so there was a lot of juicy juice action going on. Pulled it out at 168 degrees and put the bird on the dish wrapped in foil to let it settle down, and then I got busy with the drippings. Due to the brining and the moist stuffing there was a lot of liquid and it was a deep maroon color, very good looking. Put it on the stovetop and scrapped all the good stuff and then added some water and a little more chicken stock for a little more volume. Made up a blonde batch of roux and started thickening it up. Did not have to add any salt and the only other kick was a "splash" of brandy half way thru. Ended up with about a gallon plus a little of the best gravy I have mixed up. About then the guests showed up and we had the green beans , mashed potatoes, baked sweet potato casserole, rolls and carved turkey on for the feast. All very tasty and it was good to have the family over that we did. Grandma was over from the nursing home thanks to the Angels on Wheels van service and the Orlando group had a safe trip over. After the main course we had a plethora of pies including pumpkin, mince meat, and a new one from Lisa that was a bourbon chocolate pecan pie that was off the hook. Overall a very nice day from start to finish especially since I cooked and that got me off the hook for dish patrol afterwards.

Friday I was back in Sebring and went into work for a little while and then had lunch with the supervisor and a cheeseburger and a couple beers and then a righteous 2 hour nap. Cleaned house and was thinking all night that it was Sunday and there was work coming the next day. Thankfully that was a wrong thought.

Saturday AM I got up around 7am and fired up the computer and asked it where I should go for a ride. Firth thought was a bicycle ride with the local group and lord knows I need a little bicycle action, but then I hit the CFLRiders website and there was a posting for a west Orlando group ride at 9:30 from the Ocoee area. So I did a Batman quick shower and change and was on the bike and out the door in 27 minutes. Filled the tank in Avon Park and was up in Ocoee at the meet point with 10 minutes to spare. This is the first time I had ridden with a motorcycle group, but I have done a lot of time in bicycle packs, so I figured I would hang in near the back and chill and see what the deal was. 6 other riders showed up and we all grabbed a quick bite at the Hardee's. NO we did not get the monster Country Breakfast Burrito. UGH1!!!! We all mounted up and gassed up and we spent the next 2.5 hours motoring around the west Orlando-Clermont area. It was great riding, no incidents and no tickets. The only little downer was that when I was a wee lad and worked at Disney in the late 80's early 90's I used to drive a lot of these roads and they were a lot more rural and a lot less crowded back then. Now they are slowly becoming urban sprawl, but fortunately there are a lot of undeveloped area's left, you just have to know which way to go. So we had a good ride with some great people. Pointed the bike south around 1pm and while I was cruising home I was getting H U N G R Y. I cruised down Alt 27 and when I came thru Frostproof I stopped at the Cool Treats Ice Cream and More shop. I have driven past this place a hundred times and never had the opportunity to stop in. Well you can add it to the list of revelations and places to visit. The cheeseburger was amazingly good, the fries were fresh and hot, and the chocolate shake was Breyers absolute hand dipped best. Got home with a tally of almost 310 miles for the day and still had time to fit in a power nap while "watching" err sleeping thru Spidey Man 3.

So Thanks for family, thanks for friends, thanks for turkeys that give us good gravy, thanks for our health and thanks for beautiful days and 4 day weekends.

Mel's Diner serves it up...

Woke up at 6am for some unknown reason and since it was Sunday decided to roll out and go for a ride. First I had to unload the motorcycle from the bed of the pickup truck. I finally have both vehicles located in the same city. This took a little more work than I thought. The pickup had been parked at dad's house for the last 4 weeks almost, and in those 4 weeks the farthest it moved was from one side of the driveway to the other. Which means when it came time to start it, the battery was dead. And not just weak and tired, but totally toasted. Not even a click or weak buzz, but to steal a phrase from Bones on Enterprise "he's DEAD Jim!!!". So a trip to the auto store and $80 later we are cranked and rolling. Back to this morning, I unloaded the bike, parked the truck and hopped on the road. Filled up the gas tank and pointed the bike west. It was a little cool this morning and I had to hunker down behind the windscreen for a little protection, but after 30 minutes the sun took hold and started to work its magic. I made my was over to Bradenton and then across to Anna Marie Island. Headed south and curved around to the downtown Sarasota area. Out on the island there were a TON of bicyclist out and they were not having a good morning of it. There was a huge wind out today straight from the east and it was gusting and blowing hard, which means on the north south route they were riding there was no hope of a tailwind on any part of their ride. The whole time I was keeping an eye peeled for a breakfast spot. My stomach was getting grumpy and I was looking for someplace that was not national chain. I was just about to hang up hope and head for the cracker barrel when I passed Mel's Dinner in Bradenton. It was busy but not overly packed. Ordered up a plate of chopped sirloin with two eggs over easy and some hashbrowns. When you need a little protien you cant miss with this combo. it was served up hot and fresh, the only downer was a lack of seasoning in the preparation. That doesnt suprise me int his area as it is a huge retirement population and they tend to not like the extra season or spice that they younger crowd likes. After packing it all down and finishing it off with a glass of moo juice I loaded up and headed east out of town. Rolled back home on another route and was back in the house by noon. 198 miles, some nice scenery and a good breakfast and only 4.2 gallons of distilled dinosaur burned up in the process. On a side note I had the oil changed and service done on the Honda on Saturday in Lakeland and the bike seems a lot smoother and happier with the new vital fluids.

3 weeks, 2400 miles, 2 wheels and no pickup truck

Took the Riders Edge MSF class and as soon as I finished I left the truck at dad's house and jumped on my new Honda VFR Interceptor and rode it home. And then like Forest Gump I liked it so much I just kept riding and riding and riding. A week at home and then two weeks on the road for business and pleasure. Used UPS and Fedex to ship what I couldnt carry on the motorcycle and had a great time. Visited friends, road my bicycle a little, took some leadership classes at headquarters, ate a lot of good roadfood, some GREAT roadfood and a little mediocre roadfood. Stuck to the highways and backroads as much as possible and only used the Interstate when necessary. Learned a lot and learned that I still have a lot to learn to become a proficient rider and a SAFE rider. The best meal on the trip was Clarks Home Grill serving up some Wagyu bone in ribeyes for dinner one night. Mega size and mega tasty. The best restaraunt meal was the Triangle in Charleston for the boneless porkchop blueplate lunch special, that really hit the spot and fueled me up on the last days ride to the house. The most relaxing day of the trip was the second Saturday in Myrtle Beach. Walked up the beach and down the beach, had some good beach dive food for lunch and a "few" Guiness at the Molly Darcy Pub next door. Best riding day was Sunday from Albany to Charlotte. Lots of good backroads and a tasty sausage biscuit breakfast at Striplings in Warwick, GA, thanks Paula Deen! Best sleep of the trip was the Tuesday night I got home, 585 miles, 12 hours on the road, 2 beers when I got home and my own soft bed at the end of the day.

Where to next? Key West maybe or another beach trip. Will have to look at the calender and clear a stretch of days, the road is calling and the bike is willing.

1-month, 2- wheels, 3- dragged foot pegs....

I have been drooling over motorcycles for 33 years now. It really is my parents fault. When I was5 and my brother was 6 we moved to a house on the other side of the railroad tracks. The other side of the tracks from 2 different motorcycle dealers. My brother and I used to go over and hang out in the shops looking at chrome, rubber, aluminum and steel. There was a Honda dealer right behind our house and a Kawasaki dealer down the street from him. Lots of CB's, KZ's, and all sorts of things to grab the fascination of a 5 year old. We used to wait till the new models would come out and we would BEG the shop guys to give us the old posters from the previous models and we would decorate our rooms with them. In the next 33 years my motorcycle experience other than reading every monthly edition of Cycleworld or Motorcyclist I could lay my hand on was limited to rides with uncles, cousins or friends who I could mooch rides off of. Vfr500 Interceptor, Kawi LTD440, briggs and stratton scooters, vespa scooters, anything I could lay my hands on. In my teens my mother would always speak of the evils of motorcycles and how our family friend Huckle had been run off in the ditch on his bike by some drunk crazy and he laid there for hours until he dragged himself up to the road for help. Then recently we got onto a discussion about bikes and she brought up the fact the around the time she was pregnant with me and right after my brother was born that she had ridden the 125-250 size enduro street bike that dad had bought as backup transport for the family car. So evidently I was bitten by the motorcycle bug while in the womb. Flash a couple weeks forward and I set my sites on a certain bike, call them, do the research and drive up and pull the trigger. Hello to one 2005 Honda Interceptor 800 sport touring bike. Picked it up with my pickup and took it to Dads house and put it there. Sign up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginners class the following weekend. $300 at the local Harley dealer in Lakeland, FL. Dave and Bill are the instructors. I wont bore you with the details, but it was a hugely informative class and I would highly encourage ANYONE new or old to take it to pickup new skills and safe driving techniques. The highlight of the weekend was leaning over far enough in the cornering skills exercise that I actually dragged the footpegs in turns in both directions on the cool little Buell Blast 500cc bikes they provide for the classes. I was able to work thru a lot of the jitters and relearn the proper techniques to do battle on the streets without being a total idiot. So I aced the riding test Sunday afternoon and aced the written test Sunday afternoon, and picked up my paperwork and headed to Dads house. I had ridden around the neighborhood on the new Honda a couple times. Enough to realize that it is a supremely powerful bike, and while it seems intimidating at first, what it really needs is smooth throttle, clutch and brake skills and it responds well. So I filled her up, loaded her up with my weekend bag and pointed it south towards Sebring by way of Grandma's place and a friends house in Winter Haven. The Winter haven part was a last minute detour when the south to Sebring route was filled with a dark sky and rain. 123.4 miles later I was home safe with a huge smile on my face, a sore butt from 2 full days of sitting on motorcycles, a numb finger from the vibrating clutch lever on the Blast motorcycle, and sense of accomplishment from completing the class and my first long trip on my new Honda. I dont think I can fully explain my sense of wanderlust and anticipation to the roads ahead that I want to cover. I cant tell you what they all will be, because the wander part of wanderlust is striking me again for the first time since I used to drive a semi-tractor cross country about 10 years ago. Keep your ears peeled and if you hear a Roadrunner style "beep beep" in your driveway that is probably me!

Did I miss a full moon?

These last 5 days have been a real chore. Here is a chort list of crisis that have conspired to throw down a butt kicking I have not seen in a long time.
Favorite dog having medical-food issues
Mom backing into my truck
Moms car refusing to start
Tenant having a leaking washer
Tenant still having a leaking washer
Tenant breaking the faucet on kitchen sink
Another trucking company breaking a trailer in half
Making good money, but not great money this month
New tenant renting apartment
Grandmother getting grumpy with the new living situation
Cousin flying in for vist
Aunt flying in for visit
Another cousin flying in this coming weekend
Painter showing up and doing half ass job
Normally I try to lead a pretty level- no drama life style. I dont like boring, but I do not appreciate over the top drama. So now it is one day after most of the drama and I am mentally and physically exhausted. Fortunately I am able now to come home and even if it is 105 outside I have an inside trainer for the bike, so I can hop on, turn on the tube and tune out on reality and tune in to the bicycle for 60 minutes worth of sweat therapy. This always seems to reset my outlook and all of a sudden you start looking at the other side of all the drama.
My relatives are here to visit which is a good thing.
Moms car was aminor issue and it is back up and running
Grandmother is lined up for a better living situation with more one on one care
The dog has settled down a little and is having a string of good days
Work is going well this month and we will have the better numbers to prove it
Thanks bike for a little sanity at 18mph.

I only have good days and great days.

Today was a pretty good day. Spent the weekend up at the parents house helping them get settled into the new house and visiting grandma. Saturday evening my dad and I put together some Closetmaid brand garage cabinets and shelves. For the person who knows the business end of a power screwdriver, these are really top shelf cabinets and go together well, just remember they are not kidding when they say some assembly required. Then Sunday we went out to play a round of golf at the club with the Sunday morning regulars group. The game of the day was called Shambles. It is like a scramble but whoever's drive you use, you have to count their score for the whole hole. So there we are, a sunny warm Sunday morning, tanked the forst hole, but then we tightened up and started playing pretty well. I like this golf course a lot and the more I play it the better I like it. We cruise down to the 12th hole and my dad tee'd off first. This is a par three that was playing at 147 yards. They have a bunker directly in the front middle of the green and the pin today was right behind the bunker and close enough that you could not see the bottom of the stick. Dads shot was heading straight for the pin and dropped in real close from what we could see, but too many times before I have seen shots like that whuch end up in the bunker. I didnt see any sand fly, but I also didnt see the balls bounce. I teed up and played my shot pin high, but off the left side of the green. The two other gentlemen in the group tee'd off and both were just off the green near mine. We drove the carts around the back of the green and everyone grabbed their putters and walked over. My dad walked up to the pin and looked in the hole and saw his ball in there. It was a pretty exciting moment. 67 years old and playing lots of golf and fortunately I was there to see it and share the moment with him. There was a ball mark about 5 inches from the cup which means it hit, bounced and rattled into the hole. We finished out the round, did not finish in the money, but dad bought a round in the bar for everyone and we had a good time. I can only hope to hit a hole in one of my own some day.

A great Steak and a better bottle of Wine.

There I was walking down the meat isle and there sitting in a package all by itself was this beauty, calling to me. I think I heard angels voices in the background.

I think my freind Clark has been holding out one me. I now have evidence proving it. The bottle has his name on it and true to Clark form it is a mighty tasty vino. He has shared his home brew beer before, but maybe he was waiting for the right time to serve the wine.

Various vacation pics

Beef, real food for real people. Clark grabbed the proverbial Allen Brothers Bull by the horns and threw it down with much skill onto the 500 degree grill and it came out perfect. He should start a class.

Felecia's Throwdown. Oysters, crab, seafood boil. We did not go away hungry.

Scully trying to give us the "What? I didnt do it!" look. Scully is a good dog. Best described by the phrase from Dougla Adams "Mostly Harmless".

Ice cream throwdown. Cake batter flavor ice cream versus Real vanilla bean with chocolate covered mix-ins including Butterfingers, chocolate peanuts, and white chocolate pretzels and chex.

Pizza Post

This is what was left after the feast, Suzy had a spinach and ham or pork product with white cheese, I had a Andoule sausage and onion. Clarks is descibed below.

I would tell you where this place is, but then it wouldnt be our little secret now would it. It is hidden in the North GA mountains and it is mighty tasty. We have added it as a end point for a bike route next year. 25 miles and then some pizza pie. MMMMM.

Bottom pic is of Clark secret junk pizza, I remember pepperoni, and red peppers, and it being tasty. I would tell you the other 3 secret toppings, but then I would have to shoot you.

Vacation like a greyhound

I read on Reuters online today that there are an estimated 400 MILLION unused vacation days in the United States workforce. Right now I am actually on vacation doing my best to burn off some of my available time to help reduce this accumulation. When I woke up this morning I found an inspiring shot of how the rest of america needs to relax, take some time off and learn how to vacation like a greyhound. You dont need a lot of fancy things, you just need acomfortable couch. And some treats.

July 4th Georgia Style

Ocoee River whitewater rafting. This is on the river just south of where the 1996 Summer Olympic white water rafting course is located. Very cool and very fun.

Bacon cheeseburger with oven roasted Suzy potato. MMMMMMMM Tasty!

Superchef with the toasted whole wheat buns. He is also gthe grillmeister extrodinaire. His skills are mad and awesome.

Sole food...Fathers day style.....

There we were sitting in Mimi's Cafe in Orlando on Fathers Day Sunday. We had just window shopped the $917 faucet section at the Expo and now we were grubbing up. I was about to go with my old favorite meatloaf or turkey, but I saw the Blackened Sole with Shrimp Creole. Well the Sole wasnt Blackened enough and the Creole was from someplace other than New Orleans, but it was passable and edible and it was a lot lighter fare than the meatloaf or the turkey. Just as we were wrapping up the lunch the waiter started to prepare dessert for another table. We were sitting at the bar area which also serves as the dessert prep area. He whipped out a plate with two pie slice chucks of brownie on it. One on edge and the other flat. Threw it in the nuker for 20 seconds to warm it. Heaped on two scoops of vanilla bean ice cream goodness. Threw the chocolate and caramel drizzle bottles in the nuker and warmed them. Drizzled them both on in a criss cross fashion and then topped it with warmed up walnut crumble stuff. Fortunately mom and dad are on a healthy kick. They passed on dessert and I wasnt about to make them sit there and watch me wolf one down, so I paid the tab and we rolled out quickly before my sweet tooth got the best of me.

Can I get a moment of silence and some fries with that?

Please take a moment and bow your heads, the inventor of the processing and freezing of McDonalds French Fries passed away yesterday. He was also worked on the development of Cheez Whiz. he did many other things also, but if you want to honor hiz please go out and have a plate of Cheesy Fries tonight and say a little word of thanks.

Threefer Monday Reuters and God have been busy today.......

What with Jesus wanting me to buy a 4x4 and now God giving PAris a new chance, religion has had a busy weekend....

I cherry picked the best parts of this article....

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Paris Hilton says God has given her a new chance

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imprisoned hotel heiress Paris Hilton has said she believes God has given her a new chance and she plans to stop acting dumb and put her influence to good use.

"I'm not the same person I was," Hilton told Walters. "I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me.
"I know now that I can make a difference, that I have the power to do that. I have been thinking that I want to do different things when I am out of here. I have become much more spiritual. God has given me this new chance."

When she is released, Hilton said, she might like to help in the fields of breast cancer or multiple sclerosis, diseases that her grandmothers suffered, or build a "Paris Hilton playhouse" for sick children.
Hilton, who said other inmates had been friendly, added that her skin was very dry because she was not allowed any moisturizer.
"It doesn't matter," she said, "I'm not that superficial girl. I haven't looked in the mirror since I got here."

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Why do I get the feeling that the "Paris Hilton playhouse" will be a new bar and discotech located at a hotel in LA somewhere. Also, If you are not superficial, you are not allowed to talk about not being allowed to bring moisturizer into the JAIL WITH YOU!

Twofer Monday - Reuters - my new favorite headline company...

From Reuters today...these are the real deal check them out if you doubt me....

Jesus wants you to drive 4x4, says S.African church......

Jewskimos" welcome novel highlighting Alaska Jews ......

Survey shows Germans drank more beer in 2006 .......

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I am going out now to buy a 4 wheel drive, load up with beer and go in search of some Jewskimo's....Anyone want to tag along?

Smugness run amok....

Well maybe not amok, but it is out there and I dont like the smell of it. I went to the Publix website to see if they had info on why my Ground Chuck was Greenwise last week and they did not have the actual rundown on ground beef, but they did list a lot of other info on their other Greenwise products. Publix.com if you are interested. Anyway, I did see this nice little announcement about them opening a full on Greenwise store and here is the actual phrasing (I love this stuff)...


Coming soon: our first Publix GreenWise Market!
-->With an abundant array of natural and organic foods, earth-friendly products, and freshly prepared cuisine, as well as a staff of knowledgeable associates, this store will provide a deliciously thrilling shopping experience.

DELICIOUSLY THRILLING!?!?!?!?! Holy Shopping Carts Batman, I need to see this. I bet there will be more than one Hybrid Synergy Drive Prius Highlander parked in that parking lot. Part two of this story is the local coffee shop that is not Starbucks is located in what used to be a two door gas station that they cleaned out nicely, painted up in morose tones and put in an XM stereo tuned to Coffeehouse type music. Well they chose locations poorly because there is a large outdoor box store project going in across the street with a 900,000 square foot Book A Million-Joe Muggs Coffee Shop going in that will be finished in the next 2 months. Nothing like discount books and legal stimulants (that is from the character Joe Foxx in "You've Got Mail"). Anyways the propietor of Brewsters coffee shop has already throw up the surrender flag before the monster store has open. This morning there was a large for sale sign up in front of the store. I would feel bad for him, but to my critical eye he has never been truly enthusiastic about his endeavor. He was never open on Saturday and he never showed any creativity with his operation. Well, bring on the discount books, I am ready for a little variety.

Smug Spaghetti

If you have not seen the SouthPark episode about the smug cloud threat that happens when people turn smug about being more green than anyone else, you whould make it a point to watch. I have been reading more and more about the rising "smug" factor with people who want to be green and earth friendly and organic, etc. I really have nothing against that, I dont like to see people mistreating the gifts we are giving every day, BUT I also dont like the other exteme of people who want to be green at all cost.

So there I was strolling the isle at the local Publix and they have a new house brand tag called Greenwise that implies you are either being extra friendly to the Earth or organic. I saw a section in the meat department that had a couple packages of Greenwise Ground Chuck and it was actually the same price as the "regular" ground chuck. So I picked up a package along with some mushrooms, onions, and garlic. I was going to buy some Paul Newmans organic style pasta sauce, but they did not have my favorite tomato basil flavor, so I opted for the regular. Even still you do get 1/2 smug points because Paul does donate money from all sales to some charitable funds.

I rolled home and broke out my latest Marshalls red tag special, a very nice heavy duty garlic press. Chopped up the shrooms, diced the onions, pressed the garlic, sauteed the ground chuck and mixed in the sauce. let it simmer for about an hour to get good and happy. Served it up with some freshly shaved parmesan cheese and it was tasty. I have never pressed garlic before, usually I dice or chop it fine, but the press really breaks it down and lets out the flavor without having the little garlic chuncks left. It was very tasty. I should have broken open a bottle of Pinot Noir to go along, but I am getting over a head cold and taking lots of cold medicine which has really dehydrated me. I had to cut short a bike ride this morning due to cramping and knee aches. So I am working on rehydrating so I can try and keep up tomorrow a little longer.

By the way even with the 2.5 smug factor spaghetti sauce, I really could not taste a noticble difference from my normal awesome spaghetti. But I did feel smug about it none the less.

No Lunch for YOU!

I thought it was just a couple places, but yesterday I had to add another location to the long list of eateries not open on Monday in Sebring. Headed down to The Caddyshack to have lunch with our customer and they are closed on Mondays. I think the three remaining eateries that are open on Monday should do us all a favor and close down on Mondays also, that way I can just not plan on having anything to eat and it would make my decisions a whole lot easier than rolling thru the list of lunch spots and having to remember who is open to take my money.

Vices-the good kind.

I was strolling the isles at the beer and wine superstore in Tampa with some my friends and I spotted this tasty little treat. From the makers at Boulder Beer Company, a fine 5.9% offering called Sweaty Betty Blonde Wheat Beer. I am not much of a fan of wheat beer, but I can drink it, but based on the fact that I am heading out to a summer bicycling training camp (vaation) in Georgia in a few weeks I decided to start laying in a supply of beverages for the trip and a 6 pack of Sweaty Betty is the first 6 pack in the stash. I have to give Boulder Beer a thumbs up to the marketing guys. Here is the description on the end of the 6 pack carrier for what is contained within the bottles. " Irresistable. Firtatious. Soft. Supple. Unavoidable. Smooth. Exuberant. Glistening. Wild. Firm. Rare. Succulent. Luscious. Ripe. Natural. Glowing. Curvaceous. Magical. Wheat. " That sounds like one hell of a er,,, beer. I must admit that they are better at selling beer than Ford is at selling cars lately. Maybe there is something to be learned here.

Real Life - Movie Life

No, Nacho is not my real life, but I will admit to taking away certain things from Nacho and other movie characters. From Nacho, being passionate will take you far in life, even if it is passion about wrestling. From Blues Brothers, dont talk back to the penguin or she will whack you with a rule. From Star Wars, if you get in a fight on a lava planet, someone is going to get burned. From Breaking Away, being passionate about something will take you far (repeat from above) AND if you pass the mighty Italian team they will throw a pump through your spokes. From Sideways, he wont drink any funking merlot! From Brewsters Millions, money wont make you happy. From Trading Places, money wont make you happy. And from Benji, dogs bring a lot of happiness to your life. There is more to this list but blogger is about to have a scheduled shutdown for maintenance so check back later.

Countdown to vacation time.

T-minus 28 days till vacation time. I am heading to mountains. Not the Busch beer commercial mountains, but close enough. C&S have a nice (REALLY REALLY NICE) cabin in north Georgia and I am already making a list of necessary items. Bikes, check, casual clothes (anything without the company logo on it), check, coolers, check, order of steaks from Allen Brothers set for delivery, check, beer, check, leave the work at home mentality, CHECK! 9 days of relaxing, tubing, biking, eating, and enjoying good company!

Dopes on doping...

This post is refering to the current rush of professional cyclist who are racing once again, but this time the finish line they are sprinting to is the one at the podium in front of the press where they fall on the sword and confess to all their sins of EPO, cortizone, amphetimines, and whatever else they were handed or bought in the 1990's. Let me throw in the fact that I am a firm believer in he who is without sin cast the first stone, but I am also a believer in disappointment and Catholic guilt.

Bjarne Riis is the latest one (as of today) who has stepped up and said he was riding the EPO train when he won the 1996 Tour and broke Indurains streak of 5 tour wins in a row. Part of me says thank you for owning up and spilling your guts because maybe in the long run this cleansing of you soul and airing of you dirty laundry will lead to a cleaner peleton and fairer racing in the future. The other part of me thinks I would believe you more if you would have stood up in front of the press today, with that carboard box that contains your yellow jersey in your hands and said "This is not rightfully mine, I dont know who it really belongs to, but it is not ME." That could have been the whole press conference and at that point I would forgive and move on. But to blame it on the prevailing environment at the time is not acceptable. Now when I look at the Lance Armstong streak, I will think what if Indurain had not lost to Riis and he had won 6 in a row? But I can also say, What if the innocents (and there are some innocents out there) that did not race last year or will not race this year due to false Puerto accusations, were able to ride and change the face of the peleton, who would win?

Unfortunately after watching the proceedings of the last two weeks I can also ask, what about the people who are falsely accused in a system that claims a 100% win rate on appeals, and a lab that claims 300% higher testosterone findings? Something is fishy and stinky and rotten with this whole system. Cycling must have teams that are free of even the appearance of improprieties AND a drug enforcement system that is living up to the same standards and rules. Some may say this is a rose colored outlook on a sport that is ultimately there just to entertain us and maybe get us to spend a little more money on phones, water, or whatever the shill companies are spending money to push on us.

In the end I wish those who cheat (on either side of the system) could feel just a small percentage of the true dissapointment I have in the system and the current state of bicycle racing it has brought us to. Will that affect the miles I ride each week and the enjoyment I get from a town line sprint? No, but I will always be left with that little hole inside that is called What If? What if everyone rode straight and decided the race based one who worked the hardest and had the greatest talent.

Funny phrases

I have been absolutly enthralled with the Floyd Landis hearing these last 7-8 days. I think USADA is about to get their head handed to them. Both sides have made errors from the start, but the truth in the science and numbers cannot be ignored. My favorite exchange is today when a USADA lawyer was cross examining a Landis scientist who was very sure of himself and his numbers and the lawyer made the mistake of asking him about a number being 6% off what it should be when the limit in the SOP was supposed to be 1%. The lawyer asked isnt 6% close to 1% and the scientist told him "No it is 600% away from 1%." This mentality by USADA and LNDD that little differences are "close to" the numbers they are supposed to be that and it is right because I say it is right will be the downfall of this case for USADA. Close doesnt count when you are analyzing and crunching the numbers. Small differences turn into large differences when you multiply or compound them.

________________

I have been hearing the phrase "carbon footprint" a lot lately in reference to the impact you have on the planet you live on. I think that is a funny phrase for something so serious. I think someone needs to set up a website where you can enter the details of your lifestyle and you will get a visual interpretation of your carbon footprint compared to other people and other organizations. Of course if you dont get your numbers right you will find yourself in an arbitration hearing discussing 6% with a smart scientist.

Funny numbers

Read the post below first then come back to this.

1.3 BILLION cows on the Earth right now. Each one producing 1/2 pounds of Methane each day. Methane make p 13% of the greenhouse gases that supposedly cause the Earth to warm up. Methane stays in the atmosphere for 10 years, AND it 20 times the amount of heat that an equal amount of carbon dioxide. THOSE are some scary numbers. Also remember that methane is like crack to Love Bugs, so if we get ride of it we will take a step to reducing Love Bugs. I ate a nice Cajun Burger for lunch today, it is my little step to reducing the number of methane producing animals on this earth. Join me wont you please?

People in houses shouldnt throw stones.

A couple things urked me this last week. I was reading an article in Car and Driver where the editor was making a list of the reasons why CAFE (big government) increasing the fuel mileage requirements for car makers from a 27.5 average to 35 or above is not a good idea. The main focus of the ideas is that if you raise the MPG on vehicles it makes driving them cheaper (if gas prices remain at the same level) and that encourages people to drive more. It is pretty simple sound logic. If you want to encourage people to drive less or use public transport you sure dont make driving cheaper, you make it more expensive. So to truly change peoples driving habits you have to change the cost structure of transportation to make the cleaner alternatives more attractive. But the one number that stuck to me in his whole article was that transportation only accounts for 18% of the evil greenhouse gases that Al Gore and his pals would have us worrying about. Would anyone care to guess what accounts for 38% of our greenhouse gas emmisions? One hint, it isnt cows, but they do account for a small percentage. Nope it is electricity. 38% coming from Electricity. What kills me is that you will see the Al Gores and Michael Moores and a lot of other people going after the automobile industry when in reality the bigger savings could come from going after the consumer of electricity. Of course, when you point your finger at the consumer of electricity you will be pointing your finger at all of your voting constituency, so you might make them mad and the might not vote for you when you hit them over the head with the truth. So instead we will go after big business whose total votes dont account for as many as all of the electricity users. Anyhow, I wont deny the need to be friendly to our environment, but lets go after the target that will give us the biggest payoff first. So here is an cut and paste of some easy ideas on how to cut your electricity usage (PS any time someone mentions the word total electic car remember that electricity isnt free and you have to plug in somewhere).

PS. It is ride your bike to work week. That doesnt take gas or electricity and you just might enjoy it, give it a try.
_____________________________________________


slate green challenge
The Body ElectricBright ideas for trimming CO2 emissions.
By Meaghan O'Neill and treehugger.comUpdated Monday, May 14, 2007, at 12:05 PM ET

The electricity we generate is responsible for 38 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States, making it the largest single source overall. As demand for electricity has risen, so have greenhouse-gas emissions, increasing by 25 percent over the last two decades, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. That's because most of our electrical-power supply comes from burning fossil fuels—natural gas, oil, and, especially, coal, a huge CO2 culprit.
Coal is abundant and relatively inexpensive, so it's likely to remain a prime source for electricity for decades to come. And with operation costs on the rise, power companies aren't likely to invest voluntarily in technologies to reduce emissions. There are low-carbon options: Renewable power sources such as biomass, wind, and solar currently account for just 0.6 percent of electricity production. Hydroelectric power, however, provides 7 percent of our electricity, and nuclear power nearly 20 percent. These sources have other drawbacks, but throw off little or no CO2.
If your electricity comes from a dirtier source (you can find out here), then the energy used in your household may amount to more than twice the greenhouse-gas emissions of an average car. Which leaves trimming CO2 pounds from electricity partially up to you. Distressingly, 40 percent of all household electricity used to power electronics is consumed while they are turned off. Below are tips for cutting back on your electricity use. We promise you won't have to live in the dark, and, conveniently, you should save on your electric bill as well:
• If every American household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a CFL, we'd prevent 800,000 cars' worth of greenhouse-gas emissions.
• Replace your halogen bulbs, too. They can get as hot as 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, which means you could cook an egg on one. CFLs will save you money, as well as CO2 pounds.
• Cable and video-game boxes, DVD players, and other electronics can use as much energy in standby mode as a 75-watt light bulb that's left on. If a device offers an "off" option for standby lights, use it. Otherwise, try plugging electronics into a power strip, which you can turn off when they're not in use.
• How many times have you left your cell-phone charger plugged in, even when your phone is not? Wall chargers for things like iPods and cameras suck energy out of the socket, even when not attached to their mates. With the national average at five chargers per person, unplugging adds up.
• Rechargeable battery docks for gadgets like drills and handheld vacuum cleaners can draw from the socket five to 20 times more energy than is stored in the battery. Unplug them once tools are juiced.
• When replacing an appliance, look for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star label, which indicates higher efficiency than what's legally required.
• If your refrigerator is near a stove, dishwasher, or heating vent, move it to a cooler spot. Vacuum the coils every few months to eliminate dirt buildup and check to make sure the door gaskets don't have air leaks. Set the temperature between 35 degrees and 38 degrees Fahrenheit for the fridge and at zero for the freezer.
• If you use window air-conditioning units, buy the proper size for the room you plan to use it in. (Here's how.)
• If you have central air conditioning, be sure to clean the evaporator and condenser coils, as well as the airflow components. When clogged, they reduce efficiency. Check the refrigerant level, too. (Here's how.) You can also use a programmable thermostat to help regulate temperature.
• Ceiling fans circulate air both to cool spaces and to keep them warm. Since they don't change the temperature, they should be turned off when you leave a room.

Somethings the English are good at beside Grilling.

Bangers and Mash!!!!

Or Sausage and mash potatoes. Of course most Englishman will tell you if they come out looking like this, an English cook didnt make them. They are not into presentation or fru fru garnishing. Gimme Bangers, gimme mash, gimme a pint.

Triumph Motorcycles!!!!

They are not the fastest, they dont have the plastic swoopy bodywork, but they are COOOOL. If you dont think so you are WRONG! By the way if you go to the web and type in Triumph.com expecting to get a motorcyle makers website you will be suprised. I wont ruin it for you, but most people looking for motorcycles will appreciate what they see at Triumph.com. If you are looking for the bike they are at Triumph.co.uk

Mini Coopers!

Granted it took ze Germans and BMW to make them right and bring them back to life, but it was a British idea AND a British company to start. They must have had a few good pints when they came up with this idea.

Triumph motorcycles!

Whats a little wining between friends....

These are a few of the dead soldiers from last weekends festivities. I am glad we had some good wine to make up for the miserable BBQing that accompanied it. Do not let an Englishman near your grill unless you just like bland food. Salt and pepper push the culinary limits, so be fore warned. My favorite wine was the Gladiator Pinot Noir. Very tasty. I will have to replenish that hole in the fridge now.

Eat like a dinosaur....

This ones got the right ides. This is actually the May picture from the Chris King calender and that is one of his hubs in the middle of the taco. I would still eat the taco, it is looking mighty tasty right now. I am in a good Mexican Food drought lately. I used to have access to a couple good places at my old residence, but when you move to a retirement town, they are not hip and heavy on good Mexican. If you want good buffet (if there is good buffet) you will find it here, but good Mexican not so much.

Downhill week....

Mom called yesterday and told me that Rudy the standard poodle (who is 13 years old) had a seizure of some type last night. They woke up when he was shaking by the foot of the bed. They laid him down on his bed and calmed him down after a bit. They ran him to the vet first thing in the morning and they ran tests and bloodwork and basically came back and said nothing shows up, but keep an eye on him and here is the name of a veteranary neurologist if you are interested, but he is a 13 year old dog and he is getting old. Mom said he is up and around and eating a lot today, but he is a little gimpy on one leg that he might have hit when he went down during the seizure.

Maybe we can blame it on the full moon. There have been a lot of weird things going on lately. I burned the chicken on the grill this weekend which I never do, the weird lady moved out from the apartment which isnt bad but it involves weirdness, the power has been going out all over town with great frequency, and a lot of other little things. I am tempted to go to bed, sleep off the rest of the week and start all over again next week hopefully weird free....

Soho single style and why I couldnt work in foodservice.

New bars, new brake levers, new chain and single speed cog setup. The Soho frame has standard dropouts like a regular road bike, but it also has a eccentric bottom bracket which allows you to adjust the tightness of the chain. took it out for a spin the other night and it was a really comfortable ride. The longer wheelbase and relaxed geometry makes for a smooth ride and with the new bars and a couple adjustments the riding position is a lot more like my cannondale road bike.

Last night I went up to a local eatery and sat at the bar shooting the bull and watching a LA car chase live on CNN with the bartender when this guy comes in a sits down a couple seats down. After ordering my food, he started ticking and making noises. Either he had a nervous twitch or tourettes syndrome. He ordered a beer and then ordered some pot roast. I have had the pot roast here before and it is pretty good eats. His salad came out real fast and then his dinner came out a couple minutes later. He stirred it up a little took one bite and slid the plate back across the bar saying "Ugh this stuff is ice cold!" The bar tender took it back immediately and asked for another plate to be made up. He brought the original back and put it in the bus boys tub and told the customer "I'm sorry, but the manager is back there fixing you a new dish right now." The customer started making crude jokes about not wanting extra sauce or anything from a pissed off cook. The bartender kept telling him, dont worry the manager is taking care of it. They bring out the next plate and it is steaming hot. The guy stirs it up, doesnt even take a bite this time and say "This shit wont do, all this is is stringy beef. Pot roast should be in chunks." Mind you this is the way this dish is always served, and his first plate looked exactly like the first one. The bartender took it back and called the manager. The manager came over and took the dinner of his ticket and apoligized. The guy told him all this food was crap and he was just hungry and really wanted a steak. The manager asked him what he wanted and he would go back and fix it. The guy said he didnt want to eat here anymore and the manager left. THEN the guy sits there for the next 5 minutes busting the bartenders chops about he really wanted to order something, but he knew the cooks would just screw with his order and he didnt want anything extra in the food, if you know what I mean. At this point I finished my grub threw the poor bartender a fat tip and wished him luck.

French Railroad coming thru.....

If you dont know who Floyd Landis is, stop reading now, unless you like Inspector Clueso (sp?) movies. I think the old Inspector would be much more adept at handling the whole Floyd Landis situation that anyone currently involved. From changing rules to fit their needs, to righteous indignation, to a crusader win at all cost mentality, to men actiong like 11 year old boys who are left out of a game and then do everything they can to drag everyone else down with them. I work in an industry that has mandatory hiring drug testing and monthly random drug teesting in effect to protect those who operate our equipment and those who share the road with them. If the companies we dealt with treated our business like the French LNDD lab, USADA, and the arbitration board has handled Floyd, there would not be a single truck driver available to haul a load anywhere in the United States. The negligence involved in leaked results, mishandled "re-testing", policy neglect, rules infractions, and personal rights violations is incredible and would make most people give up and move on to another way of life. But they have picked on someone in Floyd who is physically tough (broken hip and all) and mentally tough enough to win the Tour de France and if he were the type of person to roll over and give up he would never have even started the toughest race in the world to begin with. I am glad that they are holding these hearings publicly so that the light of truth will shine on all the dark dusky corners of this sordid affair. I am all for playing fair and having a drug free sport, but I am not in favor or fever pitched win at any and all cost mentalities of the people in charge of protecting a safe and equal sport.

Do it yourself crab legs.....

Had to roll to the big city of Orlando this Saturday to pickup my cousin at the airport on the far side of town. Luckily this let me stop at Petty's Meat Market. It is a haven of good food and good meat counter. I found some King Crab legs on sale (cousins request), some Petty's own turkey sausage (with sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and secret spices), a nice hunk of Parmegan Reggiano cheese, 2 nice bottles of Pinot Noir, some Whippets chocolate cookies, and some roasted garlic mustard. I am glad I dont live next door due to the $170 I dropped in there. But it was good. I took the crab legs, split them in half, brushed them with olive oil, butter, salt and pepper and broiled quickly to heat them up and they were pretty good. Between my cousin, my mom and I we wiped out 4 pounds worth. It is nice to have little hideaways like Petty's around. I cant wait till tomorrow to try out the Turkey sausage for brunch. The other nice thing is that they usually have a couple bottles of wine open for sampling when you go in and they always have a keg of beer tapped for "samples" while you shop (there is a little note on top please asking everyone to limit themselves to 2 "samples" but I didnt see any beer police on patrol. Very friendly place, very cool selections.

While I was in town mom had me stop by and check out verandah funiture for her while she is on the mend from knee surgery. The place had some real nice selections and some really good stuff, which they were very proud of. You could tell how much they liked it by the price on the tag.

The thrd stop was at the bike shop to pick up some tools for the do it myself personality. I picked up a real nice heavy duty cable and housing cutter and a spiffy Topeak Chain robot (link breaker). I am aiming to open my own shop one day once I have all the tools I need.

Tax day....grrrrrr......

I am officially tired of being single and having disposable income and having to dispose of it on taxes to the government. Suzy can back me up on this, she has commented before on the training of the welfare class. But when you consider all the blessings we have in this country, it is a small price to pay compared to any other ceveloped country.

So to get over my BLEH tax feeling, I did a little e-commerce retail therapy. No more ordering at the local shop and waiting for it to come in, you just click and drag and input the numbers and a few days later the New Age Santa Claus dressed in UPS brown delivers, just like magic. Fortunately I am able to resist the urge of flipping thru the Allen Brothers catalogue that showed up at my work address today. They have some MIGHTY fine looking beef in that catalogue. I can recommend the 4each 20 ounce bone in Ribeyes. They are a little pricey at $139, but they are top shelf quality and they grill up mighty fine. MMMMM. www.allenbrothers.com if you have the means I highly recommend it.

ps they have free steakburgers or steak dogs with any order over $99.

Nothing like pimping the meat.

Anyways, the bike bling is in the mail and I am eagerly awaiting its arrival, I will hopefully have a work on bike thrash session and get it all assembled this weekend. My cousin is coming in to town to visit with the parents this weekend. Actually the parent. One is going to the great white north for the weekend and the other just had a new knee installed at the ortho floor of the local hospital. She is recupping and taking visitors. Great doctor and the surgery went very well.

I am eagerly awaiting the release of Hot Fuzz this weekend at the movie theaters. It is a followup by the same creators and cast of Shawn of the Dead, which was really funny. It hits theaters this Friday and I will be in Orlando , so I can see it at a real theater with stadium seats, Dolby THX, and maybe even a beer if I can con my cousin into driving.

SOHO under the knife.

I havent tinkered with either of my bikes wince I did the crank transplant and put on a new Dura-Ace on the road bike. Now I am casting a wandering eye on the SOHO city bike and two things are on the list. New handle bars-brake levers, and single speeding it. It has a single chainring crank on the front already, but it comes with a 9 speed setup on the back. I will for the short term just remove the deraileur, pick a gear ratio I like, shorten the chain to fit and snug it up with the eccentric bottom bracket. Once I am sure about the gear ratio I want I will buy some spacers and an adapter and take all the other extra 8 gears off. Up front this will mean I can take off the gear selector, and cable and put on a new handlebar with some sleek new brake levers. I ordered up a Soma Fabrications Bullhorn Urban pursuit bar. Fancy name for a cromed bullhorn bar. I also ordered some bar end brake levers that will allow me to run the cables under the tape or inside the bar. The only thing I have liked about the current bars that came with the bike are the looks and they have a gap in the middle that allow you to hang a U-lock thru them. I dont own a U0lock and I dont leave this bike where I need to lock it up. The one thing I really dont like is how uncomfortable they are. There is only one real hand position and it a few degrees off comfortable. Hopefully the bull bars will let me tape up more of an area and give a little more comfort. This will also knock a little weight off the bike with the removal of a shifter and derailleur and make it sleeker. Picks will follow once the UPS man delivers....

Blog on blog.....

What a week. Friends in the hospital being tougher than I think I could be after tackling an SUV and living to tell about it. Old home visits that bring back nostalgia and a yearning for the "good old days". Friends helping family by taking on some extra family members. Oh, and my new favorite place in town, The Cuban sammich king.

Our thoughts are with our friend in Atlanta. She is recovering from a scooter-SUV accident and she had a bounce back hospital vivist. But she is tough and determined, and has a great fomily around her, so I have faith she will get better.

I was reading another friends blog about visiting the old home area, and the influx of formula box stores. I am as guilty of patronizing them as anyone else, but it almost seems like creativity is not given a chance against the onslaught of cookie cutter mass merchandising. Does that mean I am getting older and crankier when my mind rails against these things or is a yearning for the past, thinking about the good old days? Actually when it comes to disposable income shopping (bikes, hobbies, books) I really like finding the independent dealer that has knowledge, enthusiasm, and a real interest in the subject on his side.

Some other friends have taken in a dog on the short term. I admire them because they already have 4 dogs in the pack at thier house and you might think the jump from 4 to 5 is not a large jump, but fitting a new piece into the puzzle is always a challenge. New rules, old rules, new habits, old habits, I wish them luck and a little calmness in the near future.

I walked across the downtown circle the other afternoon to check out the sammich (I spell it that way on purpose) shop. I have noticed it being open at extended ours for our sleepy little town and wanted to see what up. It is owned and run by an older Cuban gentleman, and when I walking in I immediatly flashed to the Soup Nazi episodes of Seinfeld. He is very deliberate in everything he does and he looks like he is about to snap at you at any second. But growing up in Florida and knowing some Cuban people from my past, I know this is just a cultural persona that is mainly a shell exterior. Below it they are all great people. I ordered up a grilled chicken sammich and it was fantastic. this goes back to the comment above about enthusiasm, knowledge and interest in the job. The shop is a tiny little shop with a counter for 8 people and the grill area. You can watch him fix the food and you get the impression that he knows what he is doing and everything he does is to the same exacting standard. From sammiches to the cuban coffe shots to the handcut plantains, it is all good. So now I have two places with great food withing 200' of the apartment. This is a very good thing.

Man, this has been the king of 7 day work weeks.

And I have fit it all in to 5. I covered someone else's desk while he was out Monday and Tuesday so I did my job and his job also. So if I do 2 of his and 5 of mine I count it as 7 days total. No wonder I am so tired. But we had a good month. My one account is hitting on all cylinders, and the other one is doing better than expected. So I am happy, for the most part. The only downer is a couple minor accidents, and a couple loads that are normally no-brainers- turned into pain in the butters. But if you dont have rough weeks you dont appreciate the good ones when they come along. Hows that for Catholic reasoning.

I have missed riding the bike all week so far, but I will definitely get in a ride tomorrow afternoon and 2 days this weekend. Then I will cheerfully wave goodbye to all our northern snowbird visitors who will pack up the Monday after Easter and head north back to their homes at the northern end of I-75 and I-95. Buh BYE!!!!!!

Sometimes you just have to look in your own back yard.

I recently moved to a downtown apartment that is on the backside of a business building. There is a place called Sandy's on the Circle and it is a morning and lunch diner. Closed for dinner. They had a small space in the back that they rented and put in a small 6 seat bar and put in dinner seating for about 30 people. The windows are heavily tinted and there isnt a fancy sign and they are only open till 9pm so they are a little hard to notice. They only opened 7 weeks ago and in a small town like ours they are still making a name for themselves. Anyway to get to the point I had a bad day at work and went and had a decompression analysis beer with the supervisor that works for me. We went to the other new restaraunt in town (Roadhouse Grille), that has a good staff and good prices and it has been pretty busy. Our regular bartender served up drinks, but they never really push the food a lot. So after decompressing, I left without getting anything to eat. As I turned the corner to my apartment, I had a sudden flash to all the afternoons and evenings lately where I can smell these great smells coming from this little restaraunt next door. So I parked and went inside and there were 5 customers in there at 8:58 pm. I asked what time they closed and the bartender said 9pm. I was about to leave and she asked what I wanted. I told her just a steak to go for dinner. She said to grab a seat and give her 10 minutes and she would round something up. I was about to refuse, because one rule I live by is never go in to a restaraunt at closing time and make the cook mad by making him stay late. It is a good rule to live by. But the bartender was cheerful and she put the order in and when the cook stuck his head out and asked what sides I wanted I told him whatever he had readily available. So I 15 minutes and one beer later I took home (around the corner and up the flight of stairs) a flat iron steak, baked potato, and green peas in a cream sauce with little tiny bits of ham in them. The steak was a perfect medium, the potato had some really good seasoning on the outside, and the peas were fresh and excellent. I was really amazed at the quality of the food from this little whole in the wall place behind the cafe. Especially since the same people own the cafe and the restaraunt in back. I have been in the cafe for breakfast and the pancakes were made from batter that was overmixed and they came out tough, the sausage was OK, and the home fry potatoes were not seasoned at all and they were really dry. So it is a real treat to have this little haven of goodness right out my front door. I can actually go out to the railing and call and order down to the waitress when they take a break outside, but then I couldnt sit at the bar and enjoy a beer or some wine.

More cowbell, errr bike riding please.

You know this year is only 3 months old, and it is a good year so far, but what it really needs is more cowbell and more bike riding. The jeans are getting tight. The legs are getting soft. Need to tough it up and start putting the miles in. And sure I say that, while I am sitting on the deck typing on a computer, drinking a beer, but I am serious now. Really. I mean it. One of the things I miss since moving is the higher level of cooking and eating and riding that I did in Albany. I have to give mad props to C and S for being passionate about good food and great bike rides. Sometimes we enjoyed too much of the food and not enough of the riding, but we had a good time none the less. So here's to putting down the fork and picking up the bike and just riding it baby!

Who would you drink with and where would you take them?

My co-worker and I sat down at a bar last evening next to a lady who had just picked up her father after he passed away and was cremated. She said he had wanted to go to this bar-restaraunt that we were at since it was new and being built but he didnt make it until opening unfortunately. So she was taking him in spirit (and a small tasteful box). So I was thinking about who I would like to take for a drink if you had one shot to do it. I really would like to take my grandfather on my mothers side out for a round of golf and a couple beers off the beer cart along the way. And even though this is not possible, I do remember playing with him when I was younger and when i am out playing now it is fun to reflect on those times and toast him while I am out there.

A Dogs Life!

This is a tribute to Mallory and his parents. I have only known Mal and his parents for about 3 years now. Clark and Suzy have made a real home for a great group of lucky dogs and Mal was one of the two older ones. Few dogs have it as good as this group. They spend a lot of time hanging out with CLark and Suzy at work and at the house. The dog beds outnumber the people beds by 4 to 1. The water dish always has fresh water. The back yard is always kept neat, clean and ready for a run with the pack. And the love and nuturing never ends. Mal was a great dog who would grudgingly share his couch with you, and didnt get mad at the new pups on the block coming in and sharing the couch too. Clark and Suzy picked up Mal from a rescue house and from that day forward all he knew was love and good times. He was a great dog and his packmates and everyone who knew him will miss him greatly. So long pal.

Back in the saddle again!

Makes you wonder when I can screw up a perfectly good blog and delete the whole site. Whoops, but I am back and rolling again. I feel like a old codger lately. I love fast cars and race cars and the fact that my office faces out onto a racetrack is a good thing, most days. But it is race season and the big race is this Saturday and they have had basically two straight weeks of race cars practicing, testing and racing outside my door. LOUDLY AND ENTHUSIASTICALLY OUTSIDE MY DOOR. Now today it is raining and they have been off the track for about an hour or two and it is blesedly quiet. The one car I really like to watch and hear (or not hear) is the diesel powered Audi R10's. The engine noise is about what my pickup truck makes and they are blazingly fast. The engines are so quiet you can actually hear the wind whistling off the bodywork and the tires scuffing on the road. More Diesel powered race cars please! Anyways next week when they are all gone and it is quiet again I will probably miss them. Isnt that the story of life though.